Deb Aronson

David Becker, Little in Life More Valuable than Friendship

First appeared in Washington University Record in January 1996 under Profiles

It was a beautiful fall evening when David Becker threw out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals game against the Dodgers. Fred Hanser, J.D. ‘66, chair of the St. Louis Cardinals and one of Becker’s first students, was behind the plate catching—at Becker’s insistence.

Hanser signaled for a high fastball, Becker pitched a low slider that broke sharply to the outside. The fans, including hundreds of Law School students, roared.

Becker has a lot of fans. That’s because he is his students’ biggest fan.

“David Becker is one of the most beloved faculty members because he cares so much about the students,” says Joel Seligman, Dean of the School of Law.

Becker, the Joseph H. Zumbalen Professor of the Law of Property and associate dean for extern relations, says, “In class I want students to realize that I am not their antagonist. My goal is to enable and empower them. The point of the exercise is for the student to succeed, for them to see the weakness of their argument or analysis, make adjustments and ultimately take the class to a higher level of understanding.”

Becker is not pushover. Inside the classroom he leads his students, via carefully constructed Socratic method, through the intricacies of case after case. It’s an intimidating way to learn, especially for first-year students. The atmosphere in the classroom is tense, the level of concentration is exhausting, for both students and professor. Becker, an avid athlete, likens it to playing basketball or running 10 miles.

“What makes David’s teaching distinctive is that he teaches with an intensity about him that students appreciate,” says Dan Keating, associate dean for academic affairs. “They quickly see that the intensity is not about being harsh, instead it stems from his deep desire to teach his students to think critically and analytically, to think like lawyers. Yet, as rigorous as he is, David’s student evaluations are still consistently at the top of the charts.”

“What struck me was that he was such a compassionate man,” says Annie Littlefield, a second-year law student. “From the beginning it was clear how much he wanted us to learn.”

“I’m still scared to death of him,” jokes Mike Hannafan, J.D. ‘70, and father of both Brent, J.D. ‘95 and Blake, J.D. ‘98. “From the first day of class I was in awe of his abilities, his knowledge and his masterful grasp of the Socratic Method.” Hannafan still remembers the very first case, In Re: Estate of O’Connor. “What I thought was a simple, one-issue case, turned out to be a case with many many issues. It took us four days to cover them all.”

Outside the classroom, Becker maintains a deep interest in his students, both current and former. He’ll greet students by name in the hall, his office door is always figuratively open, and if his knees aren’t hurting too badly he can be found playing a pick up game of basketball with law students. As associate dean of external relations, he travels extensively, reconnecting with alumni, many of whom consider Becker their close friend.

“David is an extraordinarily good listener,” says E. Thomas Sullivan, Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School and friend and colleague of Becker’s for close to 20 years. “He has phenomenal recall and is always finding ways to connect conversations from two years ago with one today. He is a true mensch, by that I mean someone who is positive, optimistic, and generous in his thoughts and deeds towards others.”

Becker’s response to these accolades is the equivalent of a verbal shrug.

“Either you advantage yourself in the richness and diversity of the students and their lives or you don’t,” says Becker, “but if you do, it gives you the opportunity to grow and enrich your own life. My best friends are my former students, and I have many best friends.”

If, as Becker believes, there is little in life more valuable than friendship, then Becker is a very rich man.

Becker is not the boisterous, backslapping, outgoing sort of friend. He is intimidating. Tall, lean, balding, dressed in jacket and tie, Becker rarely smiles, his voice is quiet, he measures his words. Even Becker’s office is Spartan. There are few photographs or other mementos.

“David is soft spoken but not taciturn, he is reserved but not shy, and he has both a powerful intellect and a deep sense of humor,” notes longtime friend and colleague Peter Mutharika.

First and foremost a teacher, even Becker’s research has been strongly influenced by his classroom experiences. Becker is an expert in a complex and arcane area of property law known as the “rule against perpetuities.” The rule, intended to minimize the influence a person can exert once they are dead, is so complex and looks so far into the future, that most lawyers feel they can safely ignore it. In class, Becker noticed that some students could grasp one key concept of the rule intuitively, while others couldn’t. Based on this, Becker developed a methodology, like a math formula, for those that couldn’t grasp the concept.

“Every interesting problem I have come across and every solution I have proposed has begun with my students in class,” says Becker.

Becker has since published extensively on the rule against perpetuities, including both this methodology and compelling explanations for why no lawyer can afford to ignore it.

Becker didn’t start out a teacher. An honors graduate of Harvard College and University of Chicago Law School, Becker joined his father’s Chicago firm, Becker & Savin. Becker had received a letter from the University of Michigan looking for lawyers to come and teach for one year. Becker, who couldn’t imagine knowing enough to be a teacher, threw it in the wastebasket. His wife, Sandi, a teacher herself, pulled it out and urged him to apply.

“I knew one month into it I would never go back,” says Becker. “It was intoxicating. I knew I could do it and there was nothing else I wanted to do.”

After that one year, Becker had several teaching options. He opted for Washington University, in part because of its strong tradition of teaching. “The history, culture and tradition of teaching at Washington University is very rare, emphasizing small classes and lots of one-on-one teaching. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to like this.’”

That was 39 years ago. Becker is convinced that teaching has kept him young. “It’s not just genes,” says the youthful 66-year-old, “I really feel that if you spend your life around younger people it does delay aging. The exciting thing, is 100 or more young people come into my life each year.”

Becker is a competitor by nature. He is crazy for sports — basketball, tennis, running, baseball. On the playing field, Becker is as focused as in the classroom. Blake Hannafan, J.D. ‘98, remembers playing against Becker in the annual faculty-student basketball game.

“David was barking directions at everyone,” remembers Hannafan. “He plays for keeps.”

In spite of this competitive streak, Becker has sought to level life’s playing field all his life. Becker’s parents always championed underdogs and Becker continues to do so. At the law school, Becker has worked, quietly and behind the scenes, to make the environment comfortable for everyone. He does it friendship by friendship, as did his parents.

For example, when Kim Norwood joined the law school in 1990, she was the first African-American woman on the law faculty, new to teaching and seven months pregnant. “I needed a lot of mentoring,” she said. “David was unbelievable. He would come by my office all the time asking, ‘what do you need? what can I do for you?’”

When Norwood wanted help with public speaking, Becker attended her lecture, took notes, then went over the lecture “minute by minute” with Norwood. When Norwood was writing several of her first scholarly articles, Becker read every draft, every word. He would mark every line.

“This is unbelievable dedication,” says Norwood. “No one else has done what he’s done for me. He’s my best friend in the building. You wouldn’t think that of a more senior and conservative appearing old white Jewish guy and a much younger and less-experienced African-American woman, but it’s true!”